intense, so far reaching, it can be hard to figure out how to even start to come back. >> their whole livelihoods crash into the ocean. it's devastatindevastating. >> reporter: in many areas the crews are moving the mess sandy left behind, but in some of the hardest hit communities like seaside heights new jersey, there are no recovery teams and residents yet. and frustrations are building. >> talk to me. talk to the rest of the homeowners. >> the gas mains we're scared of. >> i don't care about a house. i'd rather care about your life. >> reporter: lives that like the atlantic coast have been battered around torn apart. >> we have no lek fris electric heat. we need more help. >> reporter: supplies and support are pouring in, water by the druk loads, troops and heavy equipment, still the need is overwhelming. >> the full toll of hurricane sandy on new yorkers is still emerging. >> reporter: the recovery still

unfolding. subway trains are slowly coming back online. charging stations provide a lifeline through technology. but it's the lives like these, thousands waiting for buses in brooklyn, cars trying to inch back into the city, and miles of motorists waiting for gas pushing at times literally to try and come back. >> recovering from it is not going to be easy. but by working together, we will recover and we will rebuild. our city's stronger than ever. >> reporter: strength they will need as so many struggle to survive. >> hundreds of thousands will likely be without power until next week. around the same time forecasters say a strong winter storm could again blast this region. in toms river, new jersey, jay gray, news4. >> jay just mentioned it could be devastating if new york and new jersey had to deal with another storm. doug karmerror has a look at what's next. >> we're still about five, six days away from that occurring. but the pattern is right.

the pattern is already set. and sandy actually helped that pattern to oh develop. we've got a deep trough in the jet stream across the great lakes and east coast. next week, it does look like we could see a strengthening of that trough. cooler air making its way in. a coastal storm possibly making its way up the coast. a storm that normally would not have a lot of input as far as effects around our region. it's going to be a strong storm. one we normally would get through, no problem. but after the effects of sandy, this storm could have huge implications on what the northeast is dealing with over the next couple of days. i'll tell you my take on this storm in my forecast. the presidential campaign has only five days left now. president obama just wrapping up an appearance in las vegas. he's going to go to colorado now and will spend the night in columbus, ohio. meanwhile, mitt romney is rallying support on a campaign swing through virginia. steve handelsman on capitol hill now with the latest on this. >> reporter: besides virginia,

and the other battlegrounds, both sides now have their eyes on a few other states that they either hope or fear might alter the election calculation. it's that close. the nine swing states still matter most. mitt romney went to virginia, a swing state where the polls show the race tied, and made his closing argument. >> if the president were to be reelected, you'll see high levels of unemployment continue, and stalled wage growth. if any wage growth at all, like we've seen over the last few years. >> reporter: his new ad is positive. >> mitt romney understands business. knows how to create jobs. and get our economy moving. >> reporter: but the former governor's path to a win looks difficult. in today's nbc news marist poll, romney's down by 6% in iowa, closer in new hampshire and wisconsin. that's where air force one went today, green bay. president obama back on the trail after suspending campaigning for hurricane sandy. he made his closing argument.

>> we know what change looks like. and what the governor's offering sure ain't change. giving more power back to the biggest banks isn't change. leaving millions without health insurance isn't change. >> reporter: his new ad features colin powell. >> the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. >> reporter: the ad's running in the nine swing states plus minnesota. an acknowledgement that governor romney's got a chance to upset the election map. >> the president wants to see four more years and that's his chant, four more years. but our chant is this, five more days, all right? five more days. >> reporter: but floridians lined up today to early vote. tuesday is the last day of the election. new york mayor michael bloomberg is a political independent, who endorsed no candidate in 2008. but today, in the wake of

hurricane sandy, bloomberg urged the re-election of barack obama. because said the mayor, the president's fighting climate change. i'm steve handelsman, news4. tonight a woman is telling her story of survival in hopes it will bring a man who tried to kill her to justice. police chief kathy lanier said the man in this surveillance video is suspected of stabbing the woman more than 25 times. she says the man left her for dead last week in northeast. and she wants him off the streets. pat collins spoke exclusively with the victim. pat? >> reporter: doreen, she was cut here and here and here and here. cut and stabbed more than 25 times by a man who apparently left her for dead. >> he asked me, do you want to die? and i said, no. he was like, okay, because i don't have that much to live for. >> reporter: we call her valerie. we've concealed her face and her real identity, when you hear her story you'll understand why.

i spoke to her at the hospital where she's still recovering. valerie's 24 years old. she has two master's degrees from carnegie. last summer she got an apartment here at rhode island row. she moved to d.c. to begin a consulting career. but what happened to her last friday has changed her life forever. >> i screamed, screamed, screamed at the top of my lungs, as i was trying to fight him. but he, like, pushed me back hard. and i fell against the foyer. >> reporter: it was about 2:00 in the afternoon. valerie was working from home. there was a repeated knocking at her door. she opened it to see who it was. it was a man promising a party. he forced his way in. there was an attempted sexual assault and then an attempted murder. >> he started stabbing me and kicking my face in. and i was just fighting as best

as i could. i don't remember that much following that. but i know he was just stabbing me everywhere. over and over again. >> reporter: the suspect, photographed by security cameras. the pictures are clear. and from her hospital room, valerie pleas for someone to tell police the name of this man. >> he's a sociopath that needs help. and i don't want him to hurt anybody else. >> reporter: police chief kathy lanier is a frequent visitor to valerie's hospital room. she's moved by valerie's courage, outraged by the brutality of this attack, and driven to find this suspect. >> we've got to get the guy off the street. he thought probably that he had killed her. and left her there.

i can't imagine he not doing this again, if we don't get him. we have to get him off the street. >> reporter: now, take another look at that security video. take another look at the suspect. if you know this man, call police, 202-727-9099. or you can text 50411. there's a $25,000 reward in this case. live in northeast, pat collins, news4. there are new charges tonight in the penn state child sex abuse scandal. charges of what prosecutors called a conspiracy of silence. today, the former president of the university, graham spanier, was charged with perjury, failing to report abuse, and endangering the welfare of children. additional child endangerment

charges were filed against two other officials who had already been accused of perjury. spanier's lawyer says there is no factual basis for the charges against him. former assistant coach jerry sandusky was convicted back in the summertime of abusing ten boys. we'll have more on what these charges reveal about the investigation in our second half hour. business owners are assessing the damage after a massive fire broke out at an historic building in northeast washington last night. there's no word yet on what caused that fire. the two-alarm blaze started in the old union market warehouse off florida avenue. four businesses there suffered heavy damage, including an accessories wholesaler and large meat market. the newly opened union market food hall a block away was not damaged in the fire. coming up on news4 at 6:00, desperate pleas for help and gas. live coverage on the impact of hurricane sandy, continues in new jersey, where the lines are getting longer and longer. plus, actor alec baldwin and his

wife are among the millions in the dark in new york. but they didn't wait around for help to arrive. >> i think you really do have to love each other. the moment something goes wrong, we fight for each other furiously. >> here at home the wait is getting longer just to vote. some people are waiting up to five hours. the wait times may depend on where

two people have been locked up in connection with a shooting at the university of southern california. it happened about 11:30 last night outside a halloween party on campus. los angeles police say two men got into an argument, one of them pulled out a gun and started shooting. four people were hit by bullets. as school was put on lockdown overnight, classes did resume normally today. no students were involved in the shooting. sandy's impact is leaving thousands of people waiting tonight for power, for trains, planes, and now for gas. and just outside new york city, in moonachi, new jersey,

homeowners are taking a hit in the aftermath. people are trying to fuel up. jim? >> reporter: doreen, food, water, shelter, and gas, as you mentioned. basic necessities. now so hard to come for by so many. this station is still boarded up because it has no power. suddenly people are having to devote hours in pursuit of a fillup. it's a lonely job these days for manager muhammad edris. in his darkened fort lee luck oil station. >> no, we don't have gas. >> reporter: open for business, but with no juice, it's no go at the pumps. >> we have no gas, nothing. nothing inside the store business. so completely shut down since monday at 6:00 p.m. >> reporter: just down the road on route 46 -- >> this is for my generator.

just enough to keep my refrigerator going, and a couple of appliances here and there that i might need. >> reporter: plenty of company at this hess station. here in fort lee, this line, about 45-minute wait. and that's not bad. if you look around elsewhere, the lines are a lot longer. this station here is pumping gas, because it has a generator. how long you been waiting? >> this is my second trip. i was here early this morning to fill up my pickup truck and get gas for the generator. and i'm here right now probably about 20, 25 minutes. >> you're on e, pal. >> i've got 21 miles left. fortunately the gas pump's probably about a mile. >> reporter: it's been a morning-long odyssey for many in search of fuel to drive -- >> it's nuts. i tried all over the bronx to get gas and there was nowhere near me. >> reporter: -- or fuel to go. what are you going to do with this? >> throw a little in the card and bring some to a generator by

the office. that's all you can do. >> it's come to this. >> again, i'm happy to be able to stand here and complain about it. >> reporter: governor christie insists this is more of a power than supply issue. which he said will ease once power has restored. he has pressed utility company executives to speed up after they said it would be eight to ten days before power is restored. jim rosenfield, news4. >> eight to ten days they're going to be waiting, jim? do they have a plan to try to make that work out better? >> reporter: governor christie didn't like that at all. so he got these utility company executives together with fema and said, give us a list, what do you need. so they gave them a list and compiled numbers of utility workers they needed from other states. 1,500 will be coming from virginia. thousands in all. so many, they'll be housed at

fort monmouth in the next 24 to 48 hours to speed up that process. >> eight to ten days, it also takes it past election day. what about voting? >> reporter: they've got a plan for that, too, doreen. the department of defense will have trucks outside polling places around new jersey where there is no power. so you'll go to your regular polling place, if it doesn't have power, you'll see a truck that will say, vote here and you'll fill out a paper ballot. mail-in voting has also been extended. they've asked county clerks to remain open saturday and sunday and you'll be able to do a mail-in ballot all the way up through tuesday. >> thank you, jim rosenfield, reporting live from new jersey. workers in venice, italy, to stop the worst flooding there in two years. tourists are wading through thigh-high water today. high tides have left about 60% of that city under water. the water levels are now about 4 1/2 feet above normal.

crews are building movable levees to protect venice from high tides in the future. but those levees won't be finished until year 2014. >> that's an incredible sight. is that storm related? or is that -- >> i haven't looked at the weather over there, but you're talking about 4 1/2 feet above high tide, that's quite amazing. venice is one of those cities that we talk about a lot in meteorology. no matter what you this i about politics, and how we got here, the water levels are continuing to rise. in a city like venice, very, very susceptible to flooding. new york, tampa, new orleans, very susceptible, too. what we need to do is create higher sea walls. scandinavian countries, they've had this down for years. they've got some fantastic stuff. maybe we need to take a note out of their book. as far as our weather's

concerned here, not looking too bad when you consider the alternative. right now we're looking at cloud cover. on the chilly side. but again, temperatures right now about ten degrees below average. right on through the next week, to potentially the next two weeks. high today of 52 degrees, low of 43. the average high is 63 degrees. so again, well below average. and what's next. could it possibly be a coastal storm? we'll talk about that in just a second. right now, 52 at the airport. winds out of the northwest at 9 miles per hour with plenty of cloud cover. we'll continue to see the cloud cover throughout the rest of the evening. 46 in gaithersburg, 48 in manassas, chilly 46 in winchester, fredericksburg coming in at 55 degrees. what are we seeing on the radar. we have rain across the region. most of our area started to dry out. shower activity to the west, but now it is along east of i-95 for the most part. a few of those showers to the east of gaithersburg, around

culpepper, anne arundel county, and just to the north of bowie along 301, 97, and 450, you'll continue to see showers, down towards clinton, maryland, shower activity there, too. most of it light, but this stuff a little on the moderate side. you may not only need your jacket or coat, you need your umbrella, too. we didn't see any rain last night for trick-or-treaters. the rain continues to move across the area. so does the clouds. notice the clearing back to the west. that's what we'd love to see tomorrow. i think we'll see some of it. i also think we'll see cloud cover. the cool conditions will remain over the next couple of days. tomorrow it gets rather breezy, too. we'll see clouds, some sunshine, but rather cool and breezy conditions on our friday. at least some sunshine. it will help us to maybe add a smile it our day, at least a little bit. on saturday, a lot more sunshine this weekend. it does stay cool. now let's talk about next week. once again, the pattern is set for potential storm along the coast. the reason why, jet stream

dipping down across the region now. we've got a negative nao, you'll probably hear that a lot this winter. it's a blocking pattern to the north. similar to what we saw with sandy. we'll have a storm system along the coast next week. if it's able to move back inland, just like sandy did, we could be talking about a nor'easter in parts of the area. for us, it's not going to be too much of a concern. for an area just hit by sandy, this could be kind of an adding a little salt to the wound. this evening, more clouds. a few showers. breezy and cold. temperatures 43 to about 47 degrees. tomorrow morning, mostly cloudy, continued cold. 34 to about 40 degrees. the temperatures are not rising too much. highs only in the mid-50s, even for the weekend with sunshine. sunshine on monday. looks okay for tuesday. as we get out to vote, temperature around 52. watching out for the possible storm, most likely in the middle of the week next week. this is going to be a storm for us, i don't want people to get

worried around our region, it will just be a nuisance for us. but the same type of storm in new york, new jersey, where a lot of people are going to be without power, it's going to be a lot more than a nuisance. we'll watch this one closely. >> thank you, doug. it's dark and cold and voters in maryland, they're determined. live tonight, a look at how long people are waiting to vote. virginia's governor bob mcdonald became a crime victim as he was working to respond to hurricane sandy. coming up in sports, dc united hoping rfk is rocking this weekend. we're also talking redskins. the latest on deangelo hall. and have you seen the throwback uniforms they'll be wearing for the panthers games. the skins looking at this as a must-win going into the bye week, as news4 at 6:00 continues.

graham spanier facing charges in the school's sex scandal. prosecutors say he took part in what they call a conspiracy of silence. >> mike joins us now to explain some of the charges today. i think a lot of us figured when jerry sandusky was charged and convicted, that this thing was over. was this a surprise, that the new charges came out? >> not that big of a surprise, because we've been tracking this for some time, ever since the e-mails that were uncovered by former fbi director louis freeh became public over the summer. it clearly implicated graham spanier, the president of penn state university, for 16 years in knowledge of the allegations about sandusky and going along with the decision not to report them to child welfare

authorities. in this one e-mail from 2001, where spanier says -- agrees, not to report this. that would be a better, more humane approach to sandusky, not to report it. just ask him to try to get some professional help. and what the pennsylvania attorney general said today, linda kelley was, he was part of a conspiracy of silence that put the sbrets of jerry sandusky over the welfare of those children. >> what are the implications of this for penn state? >> the school, as you know, is facing massive lawsuits from those victims. jerry sandusky is now convicted, gone off to state prison, 30 to 60 years, that will take care of the rest of his life. but all the eight victims in that trial are likely to sue as well as now the lift of victims who have been identified to penn

state from lawyers is now over 20. you do the math, and look at some of the supplements that the catholic church, who's been forced to pay out, you're talking about tens of millions of dollars, if not more that penn state is going to have to pay out to the victims of jerry sandusky. and when you have the president of the university who's been criminally charged with covering them up, as well as two other university officials who face new felony charges, the former athletic director, tim curley, the former vice president in charge of the campus police, gary schultz, the university has very little defense against those charges. its own report and the state attorney general's office said they were culpable. >> thank you. >> not over. less than a week to go until the election, and in maryland residents continue to take advantage of early voting. long lines of voters wrapping around local polling places

again today. news4's chris gordon is in prince george's county to take a look at the record breaking turnout. chris? >> reporter: good evening. look at this line behind me. this is not an election day, this is early voting, and consider this here in oxen hill. we have heard very few complaints from anyone waiting to vote up to five hours today, waiting for their vote. the line for early voting goes from oxen hill road all the way around the library. and even when voters make it inside, they still have a long way to go. >> i'm glad they're doing early voting. i know it's important to me, my family, and i think everybody here in the building and in line today. >> reporter: the oxen hill library is the busiest of prince george's county's five polling places for early voting. >> i think it's important for us to cast our votes for what we believe in, the questions on the ballot, the presidential race.

it was worth it. >> reporter: in montgomery county, the line and wait is much shorter at the bower drive community and recreation center in rockville. it only takes about 45 minutes to get inside and cast your votes. >> the questions were very, very important to me this year, because i believe there were certain things that were presented to us as citizens that we need to voice our opinions on. >> the privilege of voting, that's the most important thing for me. i take it very seriously. >> i don't know what's going to happen on tuesday so i decided to come today. >> meaning the lines could be longer tuesday? >> longer, and storms or whatever. >> reporter: marine mckay, who is 102 years old, first cast a vote in the presidential election of franklin roosevelt in 1932. today she filled out an absentee ballot with the help of her son. early voting in maryland was scheduled to end today, but because of hurricane sandy eshs closing the polls on monday and tuesday, it was extended to friday, with extra hours.

they open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m. now, if you get in line for early voting by 9:00 p.m., election judges tell me, you will be allowed to cast your ballots even if they have to keep the polls open until midnight tonight. governor martin o'malley extended the deadline for certain people affected by the storm sandy. people who were put out of their houses in garrett county on the eastern shore, people like national guardsmen who may not be in their home county come election day, you still may be able to apply for an absentee ballot. chris gordon, news4. >> thanks, chris. the contest in virginia is so close, that that state might be one of the last to be called a winner, that is, in the presidential contest on tuesday. in-person absentee voting is still under way in fairfax county. the poll hours have been

extended to 8:00. julie carey spoke to voters today to see what any impact the hurricane has had. >> this is the first day that since hurricane sandy struck, that both candidates are back in full campaign mode. the president comes on saturday. plenty of voters have made up their minds, and they were eager to get their ballots cast. for some fairfax county voters, this was always the day they planned to cast their in-person absentee ballot. but for others, the closures hurricane sandy forced delayed them a bit. >> i would have voted on monday. >> reporter: the line at the government center stretched down the hall all day long. the voters said the extremely close contest between mitt romney and barack obama in virginia created special motivation to get to the polls. >> i voted for president romney, because i'm a small business owner, and we've suffered over the last four years. we're looking for hopefully a change. we didn't hire somebody this year, because business is off.

>> reporter: this obama supporter is hoping virginia gives the president a second term. >> i prefer to vote for president obama to be reelected. because we know that we have a good future. and he's sincere with us. and i trusted everything that he said. >> reporter: while each was certain about their choice, most voters were cautious in their prediction of who will win virginia. listen to this romney supporter. >> six months ago i would have told you obama was going to win. but i think it's going to be very close. and i'm hopeful romney will pull it out. >> reporter: no polls are released yet with the impact of sandy on voters' minds. this obama supporter thinks the president could get a slight boost. >> in terms of who will get a bump because of this storm? if i had to say somebody would get a bump, i would say president obama, because he's paying attention to the needs of the people. >> reporter: romney supporter watched her candidate gaining in

the polls, where his momentum could suffer. >> it hasn't come back to where it was before. whether that's going to have an effect, i hope not. because we need everybody to go out. >> reporter: romney supporters in roanoke, richmond and virginia beach had their final chance to rally with the gop nominee today. obama supporters were lining up to get tickets to one of the president's last big events at jiffy lube live, with former president clinton and dave matthews. in june of 2008, then presidential candidate barack obama held his first official rally at the same venue in prince william county. the campaign is now circling back to a place that helped start him on his path to the presidency. >> thanks, julie. while bob mcdonnell was in virginia today, he became the victim of a crime. burglars broke into two houses that his family owns in virginia beach. police say it happened sometime between saturday and monday. two televisions were stolen.

so far, nobody's been arrested. the new 495 express lanes are set to open in just a couple more weeks. drivers will have the option to pay a toll to enjoy a faster commute. the lanes are on the west side of the beltway from the dulles toll road to 395. as transportation reporter adam tuss shows us, police are making sure cheaters won't get a free ride. >> this is the biggest change since 66 opened 30 years ago. >> reporter: but how will the express lanes work, and more importantly have you studied up. here are the main points about the express lanes on the west side of the virginia beltway. this is an all-electronic toll road. no toll booths, you'll need an ez-pass to ride. it gets tacked on to your ez-pass by these gadgets. the lanes are expected to keep moving at 55 miles an hour, even during rush hours. to keep traffic moving, the toll varies. it rises and falls based on the

level of congestion. the idea of being some people will be priced out, and traffic can keep moving. it could cost about a buck a mile. there is a way to get around the toll. start a car pool with three or more people. pierce is with the company operating the lane. >> if you want to car pool and get that trip with three or more people for free, you need the ez-pass flex. there's a switch on the bottom. flip it over to hov and you'll be able to use these lanes without paying a toll. >> reporter: you can get that ez-pass flex in maryland and virginia. another one of the main questions, how will police know there aren't hov cheaters in the lanes. the police will be sitting right by the side of the road visuall inspecting cars that come by to make sure they have the required number of people. >> we certainly know that that happens on other hov facilities in the region. but that's why we need the ez-pass flex to reduce the violations in the 495 express lane. >> reporter: there are punch list items still to wrap up here on the express lanes, but in just about two weeks, things will be ready to open.

adam tuss, news4. coming up, we'll tell you how a hurricane can affect medical research like cancer and diabetes. doug's got a look at our weather one more time. >> and some food for you guys. i'm going to leave it out here just to let you know. this is one of the events to happening this weekend, over in potomac, maryland. we'll see temperatures in the 50s this weekend. no matter what you're doing, wear a jacket. we'll talk more about that coming up right after the break. anncr: it's said that character is what we do...

when we think no one is looking. mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

the rush is on to save years of medical research threatened by hurricane sandy. many hospitals in the new york city area lost power in the storm. lab samples thawed out when refrigerators and freezers in those hospitals stopped working. floods killed 2,500 lab mice used to study seizures. scientists say the storm could also impact studies in cancer,

heart disease and diabetes. thousands of people in new york city are still feeling the impact of hurricane sandy. aft actor alec baldwin and his wife live there, and went home to help their neighbors stranded in their homes. >> in our building, you can assume that people who are elderly can't go up and down the stairs to go get meals, water, any prescriptions, even if they could get them, walk their dogs. so we volunteered to come today to stand by for a couple of hours, especially during the mealtime, and see if we could be of any help to them. >> you can hear more about alec baldwin's story, and more on a special hurricane sandy edition of "rock center" with brian williams tonight. other celebrities will be getting together tomorrow night for a special benefit concert here on nbc. we've put together a list of ways you can help those who were injured and affected by the

hurricane. the american red cross and the salvation army are both accepting text donations. we invite you to nbcwashington.com, and search how to help for other ways to give to reputable charities. >> they'll need a lot of it. >> they really are, much of it. what you got, dan? >> talking a little soccer. sandy obviously affecting the sports world. the terps showing support for their linebacker at quarterback. the redskins going old school. a must-win game against the panthers as news4 at 6:00 continues.

in virginia, we know education means opportunity. that's why tim kaine expanded pre-k... championed higher ed and job training... helping make virginia "the best state to raise a child." but george allen has not made our kids a priority. as governor, he tried to cut funding for public schools. in washington, allen voted to end tax deductions for college tuition. and now, a budget plan that devastates k-12 classrooms-- all to pay for even more tax breaks for the wealthy. seiu cope is responsible for the content of this ad. would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme.

so i looked into it. turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me, but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. hello, everybody. welcome back. i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. already dark out there. 52 degrees, winds out of the northwest at 9 miles an hour. we continue with clouds and showers. 51 in fort belvoir.

50 out towards camp springs. prince george's county, seeing shower activity. also down to waldorf, in la plata. this shower activity continuing to move out of the region. most of the night tonight should be back on the dry side. once again, some of the heavier showers along 301, and back towards the west along route 2, and around route 4. if you make your way out there, know you're going to run into shower activity. tomorrow, i don't think it will be showers, i think it will be sunshine, but rather breezy and cool. everybody in the low to mid-50s. >> announcer: this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. so, d'angelo is supposed to meet with the commissioner at some point. have they yet? >> he has not. he won't meet with the commissioner. they'll look at the video and decide what they'll do. >> he's got nothing to say. >> i don't think he has a whole lot to say about the situation.

i think the videotape will do the talking. still no comment from the nfl headquarters. hall made national news for his ejection last sunday after getting into a verbal spat with one of the officials. it looks like hall will be available for the panthers game. as we know, the secondary needs all the help they can get. it's not a secret the redskins pass defense has struggled mightily. they continue to rank dead last in the nfl. and they're on pace to give up more than 5,000 passing yards this season. offensively, the redskins are coming off their worst game of the year against the steelers. a win on sunday means a fresh start going into the bye week. a loss drops them to 3-6. >> we've just got to go into winning these games. we can't go into a bye week with another loss. just for momentum, you know, throughout the remainder of the season. we have to win this game. it's a must-win for us.

>> you think about 3-6 as a situation where, you know, you're talking about play-offs here, pretty much have to win out being 3-6, 4-5, you're still right in the thick of things, with a bunch of division games coming up. >> this will be the more important, going into the bye at 4-5, looking so much better. you feel like you're more in it. at this point we can't continue to dig ourselves in a bigger hole than we're already in. >> the uniforms are ugly. sunday, also, the redskins' annual homecoming game, the old guard will be there as well as the ten latest additions. clinton portis, chris samuels and sean taylor among those joining the skins list of the all-time greatest, which now stands at 80. throwback uniforms going to are worn, 1937 the year the boston redskins moved to washington and won their first national championship.

the players actually digging the new throwback threads. and having all the alumni around. >> we're wearing the throwback uniforms, seeing the guys around the building. i seen clinton this morning. actually seen greg block, my old defensive coordinator is here. it's a good feeling. you definitely want to show well in front of your big brothers. >> what do you think of the helmets? those are awesome. >> they're cool. they've got the leather look to them. i'm excited to wear them. >> i don't know how i feel about the helmet yet. it looks a little different to me. we look like the tampa bay a little bit. i'm excited to wear the uniforms. the uniforms look pretty vicious. >> i'm a little indifferent in terms of the helmets. >> i like niles paul's beard. is that a cool beard? he's all right. he's working that. >> i always wonder how he has the nice sheen to it as well. >> he's working on it.

>> maybe one of these days we'll -- >> the reason why we don't know is -- >> a secret. talking soccer. dc united back in the play-offs. instead of opening up their two-game series on the road they'll now be home on saturday night. hurricane sandy forced them to start the series at rfk stadium instead of new jersey. red bulls stadium doesn't have power. the new schedule puts dc united at a competitive disadvantage. it's the second game now in new jersey. but they understand the circumstances. united hosting its first play-off game in five years. and they're hoping for the same atmosphere at rfk as the last game they played there. >> for me, that was unbelievable. that's what you play for here. i think all the guys were hyped up for it. and hopefully we can get the same atmosphere out here on saturday. >> our friends are strong. they have faith in us. they support us through everything. we know they will come out there

and continue jumping and cheering all game long. >> it's a huge boost to the players. it gives us motivation, gives us drive to push when we're tired. that's huge. th we need them out in strong numbers on saturday for sure. more injuries at maryland. can you believe it? >> no. >> unbelievable. senior wide receiver carey boykins misses another game with a hip injury and he could be done for the season. one reason the terps nine-point underdogs with georgia tech on saturday. a quarterback playing linebacker all season is starting. >> this is the fourth or fith time we've been through it this season. so our guys know how to handle it. they understand what the issues are, that we feel very bad for,

you know, c.j., and perry and devon, and now caleb. and we know that, hey, sean is the guy. so everybody's got to rally around him. and they're going to do that. >> he's going to have to step up and get the job done the best that we can. we'll have to rally around him. if we don't give him any confidence, i'm pretty sure he won't have any confidence, because he hasn't played quarterback since high school. one more college football note, steve spurrier now the head coach at south carolina, stirring the pot saying alabama could play in the nfl right now. alabama, of course, the dominant number one team in college football. oddsmakers in las vegas say, no. jaguars would be

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weather. >> a lot of things going on this weekend, including a walk down to the national mall for longevity, called breathe deep d.c. come down and walk with us. we have a team from nbc 4 that will be down there on sunday at 9:00 a.m. temperature around 45. it will be cool, but with sunshine i think still pretty nice as long as you bundle up. the next couple of days, temperatures remain the same. highs in the low to mid-50s, just about each day of the weekend looking pretty good. next week, voting on tuesday is okay, but then watching a possible coastal storm could be a strong one. could be one we're talking about. we'll watch it right here, just like we did with sandy, we'll keep you ahead of the storm. >> thank you, doug. here's a newsflash. not everybody loves penguins. among the haters are folks who live in a place called betty bay area in cape town, south africa. they said they are besieged by those critters. they live near a nature preserve that is a sanctuary for the african penguin. the birds are an endangered

species. their human neighbors say they are the ones, humans, who need protection. they say thousands of penguins have invaded their back yards. look at that, like they belong there. they say there are feathers and grono everywhere. and the birds bellow. just roar all night long. local officials have promised to build a new fence to keep the penguins in the preserve and away from the people. >> they are cute. >> they were there first. >> yeah. "nightly news" next.